THREAD: There has perhaps never been a better time to discuss the legacy of the Never Trumpers, who warned of the gross incompetence we’d see from the Trump administration.
.@RobSaldin and Steve Teles have a new book which analyses why lifelong Republicans would repudiate their party due to the Trump presidency. It also weighs the movement to determine whether it failed or whether it will come to shape post-Trump politics. global.oup.com/academic/produ…
The book has sparked a conversation among several prominent thought leaders, each critiquing the book and lending their own analysis to the questions: “Why did Never Trumpers rebel against their party? What’s their legacy?
.@asymmetricinfo looks at who joined the Never Trump movement: “To a striking extent, the people who went #NeverTrump and stayed there are the people who had some way to support themselves outside the party now controlled by Donald Trump.” niskanencenter.org/the-price-of-n…
.@jon_rauch says that Never Trumpers failed in 2016 because they refused to support Clinton. In 2020, “Never Trumpers need to be pro-Biden, not just anti-Trump. No fiddle-faddle about supporting Biden privately or voting third-party.” niskanencenter.org/suddenly-never…
George Thomas posits that while the post-Trump GOP will be more nationalist and populist than before Trump took office, Never Trumpers have an opportunity to build powerful moderate factions in both parties. niskanencenter.org/will-never-tru…
This is similar to the thesis put forth by Teles and Saldin in their paper, “The Future is Faction.” niskanencenter.org/the-future-is-…
.@DKarol is a bit more skeptical of the possibility of moderate factions either the Democratic or Republican parties. “The rise of social and partisan media and the resulting explosion in small donors has undercut elites in both parties,” he says. niskanencenter.org/in-defense-of-…
Read the full discussion about the legacy and future of Never Trump here! niskanencenter.org/joint-niskanen…
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